(Image from Flickr: “Business Meeting in Coffee Shop with Windows Mobile devices” by gailjadehamilton)

What I look for in a face to face meeting with a vendor depends on the context of the meeting.
If I am calling a business meeting with you, I am likely doing so because you can solve a problem I can’t solve, or you can increase my efficiency.

1. The first thing I look for is whether we are in agreement on the purpose of the meeting: Do we both want the same thing from our conversation? That’s the “what.”
2. I next evaluate “the who.” If the meeting is important, I’ve searched online to know who I am meeting with and what matters to them.
3. If the what and who check out, I’m on to “the how.” I want to see clear examples that demonstrate that you can do exactly what you say you can do.
4. Next,  “when and how much.” I am looking for transparency and candor here.
5. If I’m really interested, I’ll want it faster. And if we’ve never worked together, I will look for ways to mitigate risk.

This post was inspired by Andrew Clark’s comment yesterday: “So you’ve covered ‘online…’ Where (or what) do you look at when meeting someone for the first time (face to face)? Where do you keep your “About me” page?”

For a blog post on great meetings see this one.

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